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Friday, April 8, 2016

Buddhist Tope (Stupa) at Sphola

This photograph of the Buddhist tope (stupa) above the Afghan
village of Sphola, about 25 kilometers from Jamrūd, is from an album of
rare historical photographs depicting people and places associated with
the Second Anglo-Afghan War. This ruined stupa features a dome resting
upon a three-tiered base. Sphola sits in a ravine located midway between
Ali Masjid and Landi Kotal in the Khyber Pass. The stupa may have been
constructed towards the end of the Kushan Empire or soon after (third to
fifth centuries).